Tuesday, January 08, 2008

The Weather Roller Coaster Rolls On...

Up and down... up and down... that seems like a good way to describe our weather over the last week and a good way to describe it for the next week or two. Just last week, Raleigh hit the lowest temperature so far this season -- 17 on Friday morning. Fast forward to today when we stand a good chance to setting a new record high! The record for January 8 now stands at 71 set in 2005.

Don't get to used to the spring-like weather in January. It will come to an end by the weekend. In the transition period, we'll have the chance for a few showers. The first chance will come tomorrow as a front moves into the state. This is part of the same storm system that produced several tornadoes across Missouri and Illinois late Monday and early Tuesday. The storm will lose some of its punch and most of its energy will pass us to the north. That will leave North Carolina with just a few light scattered showers. In our area, we only expect anywhere from a trace to less than a tenth of an inch of rain. After some clearing late Wednesday, more clouds will build back into the state along with a few light showers for Thursday.

Another storm system will approach our area late Thursday into early Friday. This one may pack more of a punch for North Carolina. Along with a better chance for rain, there is the potential for some thunderstorms early Friday morning. This storm will eventually usher some cooler air into the state.

The weekend should start fairly pleasant with mostly sunny to partly cloudy conditions on Saturday and highs in the 50s. With colder air moving in, highs on Sunday will only reach the low 40s. At the same time, at least one computer model shows an area of low pressure developing along the North Carolina coast. This will spread precipitation into the state late Sunday and early Monday. This particular system will have to be watched closely along with the colder temperatures for any chance for wintry weather. There is some disagreement among the long range computer models on this weekend system and its track. It's track will ultimately determine our weather, and a lot can and will change between now and then. It is much too early to make a definite call on that forecast. We'll continue to monitor the latest weather data over the coming days. Stay tuned to Weather on the Ones for your latest 7-day forecast at :21 and :51 after the hour!